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I don't quite remember when I fell in love with tea but I do remember the most special moments of me drinking tea. I was eighteen years old and I went to live with my biological mother for four months. I had just met her months earlier and it was awkward for both of us. She and her ex-husband lived a very quiet life in Boulder, Colorado. He was a professor at one of the universities and she was a housewife. After years of drug addiction and being in and out of jail, she deserved the break. I was homeless so she and her husband agreed to let me come live with them. Each evening my mother and I would find a spot in the living room with a cup of tea and a book.

Now, years later, I'm a self proclaimed tea expert. I start each day with a wonderful English Breakfast tea to get me going. As the day progresses, who knows what wonderful tea I will crown queen. But for sure, I have at least three cups of tea a day. And yes, when I can, I have tea everyday at about 3:00 P. M. I love to invite my friends over for tea and cupcakes and so far everyone thinks it’s a delightful experience. I am always in search of the best blend of tea. Yes, I’m a tea snob, I prefer loose tea but I do like some bags also. I have learned not to judge a book by it’s cover. Some bags can be quite nice. And yes again, any Diva knows, what you drink your tea out of is very important.

Tea for me is a way of life. It's wellness for the mind body and spirit. Here, I will explore every expect of tea possible, with a high concentration on wellness. I will review the best teas, the best places to have tea, the best ways to brew tea, the best tea accessories, what tea goes best with what foods, and the list goes on and on. I plan to share my passion for tea with you. And I've been told, nothing I do is ever boring so be prepared to go on this tea journey with me.

Until recently I had never drank Peppermint Tea made with loose leaves. And Honestly, I will probably never go back. The freshness of loose Peppermint Tea cannot be denied. When I open the can of Mint Medley, From The Persimmon Tree Tea Company, I feel as if I stepped into a garden of peppermint leaves. It is a perfect blend of organic peppermint and spearmint leaves grown in the US.

Mint Medley has become a favorite and I find myself reaching for this tea tin almost everyday. It is great for on-going nausea. The health benefits and endless. It relieves muscle aches, headaches, migraines, stress. And now that it feels like someone is sitting on my chest and I have a mean cough, I'm sure it will help to relieve some of this congestion in my chest. Mint Medley has been in my tea cup more than any tea as of late. It has really helped with my winter cough, congestion related to this bout of pneumonia.
You can read my full review on The Persimmon Tree Tea Company Mint Teas.

Welcome to my world of books! As an pre-teen books changed my world. I fell in love with the writers of the Harlem Renaissance period and the more I read the more I wanted to read. The fiction of this period was powerful and empowering all at the same time. It spoke to my own degradation and gave me hope for a better tomorrow. It gave me purpose for my own life and the courage to fight the good fight and never surrender.

I love to read! Inside a book I escape into someone else's life. There is something wonderful about turning to the next page of a wonderful story. Something intoxicating about the smell of the book and the story it brings to life. Reading brings me joy, and these days with my health in the balance, I find solace in my books.

I spent hours in my bedroom sequestered with the door closed reading the classics from the Harlem Renaissance, Hughes, Larsen, Hurston, Wright and Baldwin. Books became my escape and my salvation. The fiction of this period was powerful and empowering all at the same time. It gave me purpose for my own life and the courage to fight the good fight and never surrender.

Reading is the one thing that the pain of my life could never take away from me. It was the thing that helped to make it better. And even today, living with AIDS, books continue to be the safest place for me. It’s the one thing that belongs to me that AIDS cannot take away from me.The RLTReads book club will be books that I choose. It’s me sharing a part of me with you that has nothing to do with AIDS. It’s actually in spite of AIDS.

The RLTReads book club will be books that I choose. It’s me sharing a part of me with you that has nothing to do with AIDS. It’s actually in spite of AIDS. I have read hundreds of books from many different genres and I will pick the best of my reads over the years. I warn you, it will not be exclusively white or black, male or female, fiction or non fiction, it will be all of them.

I’m so excited and I’m grateful to everyone who wants to be a part of this venture. We already have 110 Book Club Members. You can email me @ RLTReads@raelewisthornton.com. The Twitter hashtag is #RLTReads. We can make this book club as wonderful as we want to make it. Who says that Oprah has to have the only ownership to a wonderful book club?

Sunday, June 17, 2012

I know some of you have been saying what the heck ever happened to RLT Reads Book Club? Well life got in the way. For Real!! But We Are BACK!!! And We Are Back With A BANG!!!

OMG! I'm so excited about this latest book, no I haven't read the book, I'm reading it for the first time with you. I'm excited because I love this author. He was a wonderful spirit and great writer who brought his characters to life. I have read well over half of his books.

E. Lynn Harris was a giant of a man. He really was! He lit up every room he entered. I'm happy to have met and worked with him before his death. He was just as down to earth and authentic as anyone could possibily be. A Black Gay man, who worked hard on himself, to love himself and then he shared that love with the rest of us through his writings. He was determined to get the story out. He sold his first book out of the back seat of his car. For Real! Now that is determination.

He made the issue of the "Down Low" i.e. black men who have sex with men and relationships with women an important topic in the African-American community. He did it because he believed that it was time that WE ALL took ownership and our culpability, gay and straight. Invisible Life and Just As I am were ground breaking works that helped to give black gay men in the closet voice and society as a whole a better understanding of the way.

E. Lynn lived this closet life for years, but when he got his Aha Moment, everyone knew it! He told me once, "I couldn't face myself anymore. Nor could I face black women. I had to change my life." He was passionate about the topic and he kept it alive through his literary works.

Chef Wilbert Jones

E. Lynn's death was a shock to everyone, but he lives through his books. As we approach the 3rd anniversary of his death, RLT Reads is joining Chef and cookbook author Wilbert Jones to celebrate his memory in a very special way.

So this is the deal. Wilbert was a very close friend of E. Lynn Harris and I'm happy to also call Wilbert my friend. He has teamed up with Cuisine Noir Magazine and the Publisher, St. Martin Press to keep E. Lynn's Literary works alive.

RLT Reads is happy to join in this tribute. E. Lynn's last book, In My Father's House is what we will begin reading ASAP! As usual, I will host an on-line discussion of the book, on Thursday July 19, 2012, at 7:00 CST, 8:00 P.M. EST.

On Friday, July 20th at noon, Me and one lucky person will join Wilbert and eight guests (friends and colleagues of E. Lynn's) in his Gold Coast Neighborhood for a book discussion of In My Father's House. Cuisine Noir Magazine will photograph and publish the afternoon. How cool is that?

Wilbert is an incredible host, I've had the pleasure to dine in his home. This lay out for Cuisine Noir is on how to host a book club discussion in your home. This is so exciting!

So how do you get picked? Great Question! Write a 250 max word essay of What E. Lynn Harris Literary Works Mean to You. Wilbert will read your essay and decide the lucky person. E-mail your essay to me no later than June 30th at midnightrae@raelewisthornton.com The essay will also be featured on the Diva Living With AIDS Blog along with your picture, the day we announce the winner.

I know some of you have been saying what the heck ever happened to RLT Reads Book Club? Well life got in the way. For Real!! But We Are BACK!!! And We Are Back With A BANG!!!

OMG! I'm so excited about this latest book, no I haven't read the book, I'm reading it for the first time with you. I'm excited because I love this author. He was a wonderful spirit and great writer who brought his characters to life. I have read well over half of his books.

E. Lynn Harris was a giant of a man. He really was! He lit up every room he entered. I'm happy to have met and worked with him before his death. He was just as down to earth and authentic as anyone could possibily be. A Black Gay man, who worked hard on himself, to love himself and then he shared that love with the rest of us through his writings. He was determined to get the story out. He sold his first book out of the back seat of his car. For Real! Now that is determination.

He made the issue of the "Down Low" i.e. black men who have sex with men and relationships with women an important topic in the African-American community. He did it because he believed that it was time that WE ALL took ownership and our culpability, gay and straight. Invisible Life and Just As I am were ground breaking works that helped to give black gay men in the closet voice and society as a whole a better understanding of the way.

E. Lynn lived this closet life for years, but when he got his Aha Moment, everyone knew it! He told me once, "I couldn't face myself anymore. Nor could I face black women. I had to change my life." He was passionate about the topic and he kept it alive through his literary works.

Chef Wilbert Jones

E. Lynn's death was a shock to everyone, but he lives through his books. As we approach the 3rd anniversary of his death, RLT Reads is joining Chef and cookbook author Wilbert Jones to celebrate his memory in a very special way.

So this is the deal. Wilbert was a very close friend of E. Lynn Harris and I'm happy to also call Wilbert my friend. He has teamed up with Cuisine Noir Magazine and the Publisher, St. Martin Press to keep E. Lynn's Literary works alive.

RLT Reads is happy to join in this tribute. E. Lynn's last book, In My Father's House is what we will begin reading ASAP! As usual, I will host an on-line discussion of the book, on Thursday July 19, 2012, at 7:00 CST, 8:00 P.M. EST.

On Friday, July 20th at noon, Me and one lucky person will join Wilbert and eight guests (friends and colleagues of E. Lynn's) in his Gold Coast Neighborhood for a book discussion of In My Father's House. Cuisine Noir Magazine will photograph and publish the afternoon. How cool is that?

Wilbert is an incredible host, I've had the pleasure to dine in his home. This lay out for Cuisine Noir is on how to host a book club discussion in your home. This is so exciting!

So how do you get picked? Great Question! Write a 250 max word essay of What E. Lynn Harris Literary Works Mean to You. Wilbert will read your essay and decide the lucky person. E-mail your essay to me no later than June 30th at midnightrae@raelewisthornton.com The essay will also be featured on the Diva Living With AIDS Blog along with your picture, the day we announce the winner.